


One Problem at a Time

by JeMiChi



Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game)
Genre: Chiss, Coping with injuries, Gen, I have no idea what to tag, Odessen, Shaku / Kres'hak'ufsa, it's the aftermath of barely avoiding death by an explosion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-14 18:21:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29175585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JeMiChi/pseuds/JeMiChi
Summary: Another companion piece to "Another One", but from Shaku's point of view as he's trying to process what happened to him.





	One Problem at a Time

Shaku lifted his blanket a little and dared a peek underneath. He hissed a curse in Cheunh, a language he barely remembered from his childhood, but used exclusively for swearing even now. 

The doctor turned around and looked at him curiously. 

”What was that?” 

”There is so little left...” 

The doctor shrugged coldly, but there was understanding in his eyes. 

”I told you it wasn't much to see. We are still working on it.” 

Shaku sighed. This doctor, Eckard Lokin had told him that his colleague doctor Oggurobb was designing a cybernetic leg for him, but it was still a shock to see the limb was just... gone. 

He could vaguely recall the explosion and what happened afterwards so he should have known what to expect. And he had seen countless soldiers with similar injuries so the possibility was always there, but somehow it just didn't feel real. 

Part of it was definitely because he was still heavily medicated to numb the pain so it didn't exactly feel like he had lost a limb. 

Yet there was barely a stump left of his leg and the Chiss worried how far the damage might extend down there, but he didn't want to ask just yet. He had always preferred dealing with one problem at a time. 

Groaning in frustration he let his head fall back on the soft pillow. Easier said than done. 

The doctor gave him a warning glare. He had told Shaku to avoid sudden movements while his wounds were still healing. 

His face was a patchwork of pieces stitched together and while the rest of his body wasn't as bad, there were deep wounds here and there. Apparently there was still some shrapnel lodged inside his body too. The doctor had decided that leaving it there and treating the potential infection was less risky than going through the surgery to remove those pieces, at least for now. 

But it was hard to be careful when he couldn't feel those injuries. Shaku wondered how much of it was because of the pain medication as there were large parts that he couldn't feel at all, including half of his face. He might never get his sensation back in those parts of his body. 

There was also that matter about the mind control. In his current predicament he had brushed that off as a least concern in order to focus on, well, surviving, but it was still there and the fact he didn't know how it worked made it all the more terrifying. 

His memories from the crash site were blurry at best, and he could only remember bits and pieces from after he had been rescued by the Alliance commander, but they had tried to explain the keyword and the mind control to him. 

But there was one thing he still remembered clearly in all that; the other Chiss had used the keyword on him. Strangely he didn't find the idea scary at all. On the contrary, Shaku felt some relief in knowing that there was someone who understood his situation and knew what had happened to him. That Chiss they had called Oni had the answers. 

The truth was that Shaku would have found him intimidating had he used the keyword for anything else, but Oni had merely used it to cancel the previous commands that forced him to fight his enemies to the death. And the Chiss had expressed remorse for having to resort to using the keyword even then. 

”Was that the first time?” Oni had asked. The words had stuck with Shaku. The implications were clear, the other Chiss had experienced the same thing, and several times too. He knew what it was like. He must have known what it was like to be a Chiss in the Empire as well. Shaku still wasn't entirely sure if he should trust the man, but he wanted to. At least Oni had all the answers he needed. 

And of course, Oni and the Alliance commander had saved him when the Empire didn't. Shaku owed them his life and that was something he'd never forget. 

It was a lot to take in. He had sworn loyalty to the Empire, and his code of honor as a Chiss compelled him to keep his promise. But the Empire hadn't kept its promises to him and had both brainwashed him and abandoned him to die on Ossus. That was the end of the deal, wasn't it? 

On the other hand the Alliance had helped him even after he had attacked them. They had treated his wounds and brought him to their base without asking for anything in return. It was almost unbelievable. 

”Sloppy and careless,” he would have thought. After all they had brought in a potential enemy and kept him unrestrained and often unsupervised. But then again, what could he possibly do alone and so badly injured with no weapons. 

And Shaku had certainly heard the rumors about the many impressive feats the Alliance had accomplished so they weren't a group that should be underestimated. It would be hard to do anything against them. 

He smiled. Not like he wanted to cause them harm after they had saved his life. If there was something his pride and honor as a Chiss compelled him to do now, that was to repay that debt even if it took the rest of his life to do so. There was no going back to the Empire now. For them he had been merely a disposable tool and it seemed likely that if they didn't execute him for knowing too much, they would only force him to obey by using those keywords again. Shaku wasn't sure what he would do with his life now. Or what he could do. But he knew that his immediate future and the answers he seeked were definitely within the Alliance. 

The doctor lifted his head from his work and turned around to look at the door, nodding a silent greeting. 

Shaku followed his gaze and saw a human man standing awkwardly in the doorway. 

”Oh! You are awake,” the man noted with some surprise. 

Shaku finally recognized him as Theron Shan. He had seen this person in his files before as he was nearly as famous as the Alliance commander herself. 

”I brought you something. I thought you'd need them more than I do,” Theron said as he walked towards Shaku's bed with a slight limp. 

Shaku squinted his eyes and noticed the man was holding a pair of crutches. 

”It's way too early for him to go anywhere,” doctor Lokin warned, but Theron just shrugged as he placed the crutches against the wall next to Shaku's bed. 

”Sooner or later he's going to leave that bed.” 

”Thank you,” Shaku said and meant it. The gesture made him feel both welcome and at least slightly more free. 

Theron smiled. 

”Who wants to stay stuck in a bed forever?” 

The doctor gave him a warning glare and Theron left the room, waving his hand as he walked out of the door. 

”See you later!”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! ^^   
> Check out "Another One" for the main story to find out what happened to Shaku. And "To Save a Life" for Oni's point of view.


End file.
